The subject matter of this disclosure generally relates to systems and methods for moving heavy objects using air cushions. In particular, this disclosure relates to systems for loading and unloading aircraft mission equipment using an air caster handling system.
Many components of an aircraft mission equipment inventory, such as electrical equipment cabinets (EECs), can be bulky and large. In the aircraft interior, there are space limitations that restrict the movement of personnel and equipment. This space limitation becomes more of an issue as each EEC gets installed in the aircraft. In many cases, the EEC is so large that, in order to remove or install it, other onboard equipment needs to be moved.
In the past, each EEC was rolled into an aircraft, positioned and then loaded with equipment. Because an EEC weighs approximately 200 pounds empty, the cabinet casters produced high point loads on the floor. Thus the loading process required additional support over the floor panels to prevent damage. In some cases an independent pallet was used underneath the EEC due to its weight. Use of an independent pallet requires substantial manipulation to move the EEC into place; often times this results in damage to the EEC, aircraft structure or electrical equipment, and/or injury to personnel manually loading the equipment.
In a known process. after an empty EEC has been loaded into the aircraft, the mission equipment is installed in the cabinet. Installing cabinet equipment includes retrieving it out of storage, locating the various subsystems in and securing them to the cabinet, attaching power and data cables, and functionally verifying that the equipment was installed correctly. If this installation is performed while the cabinet is in the aircraft, the latter must be out of service for the duration of the equipment installation process. Alternatively, the equipment can be installed while the cabinet is in a shop and before the aircraft has landed. After landing, the fully equipped and tested cabinet can be loaded into the aircraft, thereby reducing the aircraft's time on the ground.
Because different missions require different equipment onboard the aircraft, it would be beneficial to increase the mobility of the EECs and other equipment which need to be loaded or unloaded. Cabinet mobility decreases the complexity of rearranging the mission payloads in the aircraft and improves the ability to reconfigure aircraft mission equipment. This capability decreases the turn-around time to exchange the ECCs, which in turn increases the aircraft's flexibility. Most mission capability will be contained within removable EECs. If those EECs are easily movable on and off the aircraft, then an aircraft need carry only the equipment needed for a particular mission. After each mission, equipment not needed for the next mission can be removed and needed equipment can be loaded. The ability to easily remove unneeded mission equipment reduces aircraft weight, increases the available interior space and expands the overall capability of the aircraft.
It is known to use air casters (a.k.a. air bearings) to load and unload mission equipment. A cabinet can be fully outfitted with system hardware or equipment before being loaded onto the aircraft. The aircraft floor incurs only a minimal weight footprint due to the distributed load nature of the air casters, thereby reducing damage to the aircraft. Since the cabinet can be fully loaded or pre-staged before installation in the aircraft, the traditional long flow time needed to perform installation of mission system equipment can be eliminated, allowing the aircraft to rapidly return to service.
Current air caster systems for moving equipment on and off an aircraft are autonomous in nature and are removed after each handling operation. There is a need for improvements in air caster handling systems which enable an aircraft operator to easily remove, reconfigure and install mission equipment.